386 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



back ; in Beechey's spermophile it is yellowish-hoary, in Doug- 

 las's it is dark-brown. The former species is found very abun- 

 dantly south of the Straits of Carquinez ; the latter north of 

 it, and fewer in number. 



Beeehey's spermophiles are among the most formidable ene- 

 mies of the farmer in those districts where they make their 

 homes. They increase very rapidly in the vicinity of farms, 

 and do great damage in grain-fields and gardens ; they eat 

 grain and garden vegetables in all stages of their growth ; 

 they peel young fruit-trees and vines; they are, in short, dan- 

 gerous to nearly everything that is cultivated. They are very 

 industrious, and lay up large stores for the winter, spending 

 several hours every pleasant summer's day in gathering food. 

 They go considerable distances to fields; and the traveler, 

 whose approach scares them, sees them in hundreds running 

 across the road before him, with their tails erect, hurrying 

 from the field to hide themselves in their burrows. Many a 

 large wheat-field, which would have yielded forty bushels to 

 the acre if there had been no spermophiles to trouble it, is so 

 despoiled by them, that the crop will not pay for harvesting. 

 They are particularly abundant in the Santa Clara, Amador, 

 and Pajaro Valleys ; and their number is an important con- 

 sideration in the estimate of the price of land. They will not 

 live in moist land, nor very near the ocean, where the fogs 

 prevail. Away from cultivated fields, they depend for food 

 chiefly upon grass-seeds, grass-roots, and acorns. 



307. Gopher. The Californian gopher (Thomomys bul- 

 bivorus) is, next to Beechey's spermophile, the most abundant 

 and most troublesome rodent of the State. When full grown, 

 it has a body six or eight inches long, with a tail of two 

 inches. The back and sides are of a chestnut-brown color, 

 paler on the under parts of the body and legs ; the tail and 

 feet are grayish-white ; the ears are very short. In the cheeks 

 are large pouches, covered with fur inside, white to their mar- 

 gin, which is dark brown. 



